


Luminance

by LanternWisp



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Green Lantern (Comics), Green Lantern - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Possession, Families of Choice, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Mostly Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 15:14:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15270285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LanternWisp/pseuds/LanternWisp
Summary: A chain of moments spread across Green Lantern arcs that lead Hal to realize he's become Kyle Rayner's father.





	Luminance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lysical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lysical/gifts).



> A very very late birthday gift for Lysical.

Hal was still waiting for things to fall into place.

Any minute now he was going to start feeling like himself again. The fog in his mind was going to lift and the mere act of breathing was going to stop feel so damn unnatural. He’d just never been any good at waiting.

Amidst the heat and flashing lights of battle it had been second nature to put all else aside and focus only on the fight - just him and the job and his will. Only now it was over, leaving Hal stuck in a borderline dreamlike state where nothing felt entirely real or solid. He could only continue to tell himself that it was, that he was truly here and alive.

These were _his_ lungs expanding, _his_ nails digging into his palms and sending sparks of pain through his nerves. His flesh and blood and bone, and no one else’s.

Coast City was still a ghost town despite the rebuilding efforts. Hal had never seen a city so dark at night. So empty. The smell of dust and fresh tarmac was still heavy in the air and the quiet chafed at his nerves.

Hal wasn’t sure if it was masochism or love or obligation that kept him here, hovering over streets that felt achingly familiar but at the same time were far too new and untouched.

He didn’t flinch when his ring chimed with an incoming call, answering it without a second glance. Anything was a welcome distraction from his own thoughts.

 _“Hal! Hey. Sorry if this is sudden. You’re probably busy_ -“

“I’m really not. Sad to say my weekend life isn’t exactly sparkling these days. What’s up?”

Kyle Rayner, the Torchbearer who had kept the green light burning when the Corps had been otherwise decimated. Hal had only known him for a brief window of time, but the impression left behind had been memorable. A keen, bright-eyed twenty-something who had thrown himself into the cause without reservation or regret. An idealistic kid who had inexplicably believed in a stranger written off by the universe.

_“Right, well I’ve just been meaning to check on you. See how you’re doing.”_

“I’m fine. Still getting back into the swing of things,” Hal said easily. “How about you? Still running recruitment with Guy?”

“ _Yes and no. The Corps is still growing, but a bunch of rookie Lanterns aren’t enough right now. Things have gotten seriously crazy out here._ ” A pause. “ _The Corps needs you, Hal_.”

‘I’m the one that destroyed the Corps’ burned at the back of Hal’s throat. He swallowed.

“I’ve been assigned to patrol this sector for now, you know that.”

“ _Yeah, but…”_ Kyle sighed. “ _Are you really okay? I’ve been talking to John-_ “

“I am. Really.” Hal didn’t want to speculate on what John had to say about how he was adjusting. “I’m getting things sorted out.”

“ _Are you though? You’re barely interacting with the Justice League. And I hear you aren’t with Ferris Air anymore?”_

“I had other plans.”

Picking up where he’d left off hadn’t felt right, let alone possible. Besides, Carol was married now. She’d found a guy who offered her something tangible and permanent, rather than an endless back-and-forth between two people who wouldn’t know what to do with themselves if they ever actually sealed the deal. Keeping his distance from her was the responsible thing to do. The end of a vicious cycle, and all that.

“ _I don’t like it,_ ” Kyle said. “ _You serving some kind of penance on Earth when your place is here with the Corps._ ”

Hal gave a humorless laugh. “You’re a good kid, Kyle. But it’s not penance, I’m just doing my job. It sounds like you’ve got more important things to worry about out there than me.”

“ _But I_ am _worried. You’re_ the _Green Lantern. Being a part of the Corps is everything I ever wanted since I got the ring, and… it’s not complete unless you’re here. Just think about what I said, okay?_ ”

And he did. Long after the call had ended, Hal couldn’t stop thinking about it.

* * *

 

It wasn’t long before the choice was made for him. The madness taking place beyond the stars didn’t waste time making its way to Earth: a wider emotional spectrum, other color corps, and a whole cornucopia of dirty secrets the Guardians had tried to keep buried. Whispers of a prophecy about the Blackest Night.

And then, as if they needed another herald of the bad times to come, Kyle getting taken by Parallax.

Hal couldn’t have imagined a worst case scenario. Worse still, he had no idea how to handle the fallout.

“And what the hell is Sinestro’s deal, anyway?” Kyle was half-sat, half-slumped at the bar, pressing at his temples.

From the outside it looked like he was holding up relatively well, but that didn’t mean much. Hal had done his damnedest compartmentalize what he could about his own relationship with Parallax. There simply wasn’t the time or resources to deal with it any other way, he could only strengthen his resolve and power forward like he’d always done when faced with fear. The nightmares, hatred for yellow and amplified disgust for insects were things he’d just have to deal with.

Kyle though. The kid shouldn’t have had to deal with any of that.

“I’m not sure I ever could have given you an accurate answer to that question,” Hal said solemnly.

“It’s just, he keeps calling me Alley Rat? And it’s actually starting to freak me out because now it’s a Thing and I don’t know where it came from because like, _he_ can’t know I got my ring in a grimy backstreet. Right?”

“I sure hope not.” But at this point Hal was beyond guessing what Sinestro was or wasn’t capable of. Goddamn absurd is what it was. “Don’t let it get to you. Probably just him mouthing off on his podium of superiority per usual.”

“Yeah… you’re probably right.”

The dust had settled on Sinestro’s latest tantrum and they had a moment of peace for now. Green Lanterns were still repairing the damage done to major cities, but the time was fast approaching for them to pack up and move out. Only a coward wouldn’t take this time to at least try and make Kyle talk about what happened.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Hal said, drumming his finger on the bar. “There wasn’t enough time to address it afterwards, but. Parallax.”

There was a beat of silence, Kyle staring into a bottle the bartender had carded him for. Hal still didn’t know how old he was exactly, but the words “too young” came to mind whenever he thought about it.

“You can say if you aren’t okay,” he said. “You know won’t catch any judgement from me.”

“I know that. Honestly I’m just not sure if I’m okay or not. Everything still feels kind of numb.” Kyle shrugged. “It sure as hell wasn’t like hosting Ion, I didn’t even know the big guy was there at the time. The entity of will is the quiet type, who’d have thought.”

Hal wouldn't have expected the entity of will to resemble a giant green catfish either, but apparently the universe was still full of surprises.

Kyle gave a weak laugh. “But Parallax. He _wears_ you. He turns you into the worst version of yourself until you can’t tell where you end and he starts and the things he said to me, I’m not going to lie, are still kind of messing with my head. Was that what it was like for you?”

“I… Something like that.” Hal took a drink. “Yeah.”

It was a mild way of putting it but the words made something in him twist and churn with discomfort. There were still times when Hal would refer to that dark time as “when [he] was Parallax”, to which everyone in the vicinity would be quick to tell him that wasn’t the case.

You weren’t Parallax, Hal. That wasn’t you, Hal. But in a terrible, distorted way it had been. The entity hadn’t just wriggled under his skin and taken it for a ride, but merged with him in a manner that transcended mere parasitism. He had _been_ Parallax and Parallax had been Hal Jordan and in that the both of them had ceased to exist. In their place had been a new monster that Hal never wanted to meet again.

This conversation deserved more time than they had, but right now the Corps had new and old enemies alike circling like sharks. Sinestro’s corps members were still crawling across the galaxy somewhere, and there remained a sense of impending doom that was impossible to shake. Even though Hal knew the kid wouldn’t have had it any other way, Kyle deserved better than to emerge on the other side of possession only to dust himself off and be shipped back to the front lines.

“You shouldn’t have had to go through any of that,” Hal said. “Parallax was my responsibility. Maybe if I’d been able to take care of that bug the first time -“

“What are you talking about?” Kyle straightened, looking at him in bewilderment. “You’re the one who found me in there. _You_ pulled me out of Parallax. You went in after me, knowing full well that the one he really wanted was you.”

Hal frowned. “Any one of us would have. It never occurred to me to do anything else.”

It was the truth. For all that Parallax had done to and represented in Hal’s mind, he hadn’t thought twice about pulling Kyle out. It had even been the most optimistic out of all their options: Hal had already considered and prepared for the possibility of a trade. Disturbing as the entity’s fixation on him was, it was one of the more predictable things about Parallax. Better him than Kyle.

“Exactly,” Kyle was saying. “And I know I was chosen by accident - a ring didn’t find me so much as it was chucked at my head behind a bar - but ever since I’ve always believed in the values and ideals of the Corps. I’ve always believed in Green Lantern. That’s the legacy I’ve tried to live up to.”

“I only wish I’d left you with a better legacy to work with.” Hal placed a hand on Kyle’s shoulder. “Trust me, Kyle. You _are_ a Green Lantern, no doubt about it. I don’t know how else to prove it to you, but if you weren’t meant for the light I don’t see how you could’ve hosted Ion as well as you did.”

He wasn’t going to say anything, but he had his reservations about that Yat guy. Something didn’t sit right with him about the Guardians hand-picking an entity’s vessel before programming a bunch of safeguards in; it read like turning a god into a weapon with its host as the trigger.

“I don’t know,” Kyle said, rubbing at eyes that had flickered from brown to green at some point in the past few minutes. “I kind of got the feeling that Ion was just passing through with me. And like I said, Parallax wasn’t half as interested in keeping me as he was in tormenting you.”

That wasn't so surprising. Sometimes Hal wondered if Parallax had an agenda of his own at all, or if it was all just a game.

“Yeah, well. He’s good at that if nothing else.” He resisted the urge to order a stronger drink. “So he didn’t…”

Hal wasn’t sure how to finish that question. He was already starting to suspect that Kyle’s encounter hadn’t been quite as invasive or intense as his own had been, in which case getting into it would get the kid worrying about _him_ , which was the opposite of what Hal wanted.

“Do what?” Kyle asked, and sure enough his brow was furrowing in concern.

“I just know Parallax likes to mess with people’s heads.” Hal shrugged as casually as he could. “He loves his whole ‘personification of fear’ schtick.”

“Oh.” Kyle snorted. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I really wasn’t keen on being body snatched and I’ll be put off exorcism movies for a while. But giving a smug, punchable face to my fears almost made them easier to fight in a weird way.”

“Well if you need someone to talk to about anything, just let me know, alright?”

Kyle laughed, and this time it sounded sincere. “You might come to regret that. You know Guy gives me a lot of flak for being overly sentimental, and he’s not the only one.”

“Guy picks on everyone. You want to talk about being sentimental, ask him about all the cards he saves from those kids he used to coach.”

“I’ll bear that in mind.” Kyle left some cash on the bar before pushing to his feet. “I’m heading back to New York tonight to help him with the clean up. You staying here with your family?”

“For a while longer.” After the scare they’d gotten, Hal owed Jim and his kids whatever security his presence could give them.

“So I guess I’ll see you when we get called back,” Kyle said, shrugging his jacket on.

“Looking forward to it.” Hal nodded. “You really are a good kid, Kyle. And you’re already a great Lantern.”

“That really means a lot coming from you.” Kyle hesitated as he turned towards the door. “You know I don’t actually remember much from being possessed. Just bits and pieces, like a nightmare. I know it was bad but I can’t quite string together the whole narrative. So I was wondering, was it like that for you too?”

It was as explicit as confirmation was likely to get. Kyle might have hosted Parallax, but they hadn’t fused together as cohesively as Hal had feared. A silver lining to a horrific ordeal.

His grip tightened on the slick beer bottle in his hand. “Yeah. Just bits and pieces.”

The lie sat in his gut with the alcohol, but Kyle’s relieved smile was worth it.

* * *

Kyle’s decision to leave Earth shouldn’t have surprised Hal. Hadn’t he just been thinking to himself that there was hardly anything left tying him to his civilian life? With Kyle’s mom gone and the recent promotion to Honor Guard, relocation probably felt like an intuitive next step.

Still.

“And you two have really talked this over?” Hal asked, dodging an old football jersey as Guy carelessly tossed clothes over his shoulder and onto an open suitcase on his bed.

For a grown man about to migrate across the universe, he still packed like a teenager leaving for college.

“Well I didn’t hold his hand and ask him if he was super-duper-certain, if that’s what you mean,” Guy said, poking through a box of comic books before kicking the entire thing into a mounting pile of unorganized possessions. “I decided to leave for Oa, he called me saying he’d decided the same thing. What else do you want?”

“Guy, he’s a kid who’s just lost his mom. You don’t think his capacity for decision making is a little compromised right now?” Hal asked, nearly tripping over an errant pair of sneakers.

“He said he’s made his peace with it,” Guy said with a shrug. “You don’t believe him?”

“I just think it’d be a lot to deal with even if he’d been given the time to deal with it. First his mom is murdered, then Parallax -“

“God, don’t tell me that’s what this is about.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

Guy groaned dramatically. “That you’re projecting whatever screwed up baggage you’ve got from the Satanic Cricket and its crush on you onto Kyle. Sure he’s a kid but he’s not a _child_ ; it’s not cool to be playing mother hen behind his bac-“

Guy paused and Hal immediately grew tense. Anything that made Gardner stop talking, especially mid-rant, was bad news.

Then he began to laugh, and Hal seriously considered taking flight straight out the window. Guy didn’t have a secret identity, the neighbors had probably come to expect stranger things.

“Oh. I get it,” Guy said, fixing Hal with an infuriating grin. “Biological clock’s ticking, huh Jordan?”

Hal’s double-take nearly gave him whiplash. “The _hell_ are you talking about.”

“Hey, I may not have done much with my psych degree but I can still put two and two together.”

“That’s nice and surprising.”

“You’re fussing over Kyle like an anxious old lady because you see him as some orphaned kid that needs looking after.” Guy snorted. “Well I stand by what I said. Kyle’s a grown man, he can do what he wants.”

“But Kyle has a whole life here on Earth - he’s got a career, friends, people who care about him.”

“And I don’t?”

“You can’t expect me to answer that seriously.”

“Screw you too.” Guy shouldered past him and began emptying out his dresser. “I dunno what you hoped to accomplish here, Hal. As if I was actually gonna go and try to talk Kyle out of it. You ask me, I think that if a man’s made up his mind you should leave it alone. No good to make him second-guess himself.”

“Well I wasn’t asking you.” Hal rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “Alright, just. Look out for him, okay? I know the Guardians are going to put him on a pedestal as their Torchbearer and Honor Guardsman and they’re not going to consider his age. Let alone the fact that he hasn’t been part of an actual Corps for even a year.”

“Is that your best shovel talk? No ‘if he gets hurt I have a shallow grave with your name on it’, nothing? Weak.” Guy waved him off. “Relax, Hal. The kid’s my partner, I’ll watch his back. Never steered you wrong, have I?”

Hal rolled his eyes. “That’s my cue to leave. Happy trails and let’s forget this conversation ever happened.”

“Ohh no, this one’s going into the memory banks for a long time, boyo. I’m going to be holding it over you for years!” Guy called after him as Hal made for the exit. “But hey, I’m sure Kyle would find it real touching, his hero worrying about him like that. God knows the kid’s got enough daddy issues to fill a hundred tween blogs!”

Hal slammed the door so hard he heard glass crack.

* * *

 

Guy’s ridiculous assumptions aside, Hal had trusted him. The man was, above all else, a good Lantern with strong principles - how hard could managing Kyle be?

Judging by the tornado that awaited him in his apartment, Hal had been a touch too optimistic.

“Hal! Hey! Sorry to bust in, I already turned in the key to my old place and your window was open,” Kyle frowned, glancing around from where he stood in the middle of Hal’s kitchen, ankle-deep in various foodstuffs. “You know that’s kind of unsafe.”

“Kyle?” Hal hurriedly shut the door and latched it behind him. “What the hell _happened_ to you?”

Lantern uniforms weren’t actual fabric or subject to the same kind of wear and tear, but that didn’t stop Kyle from looking like he’d gotten on the bad side of a bear. What looked like dirt, soot, grease and grass stains marred his clothes and his hair was a certifiable wreck. A bruise was blossoming across the right side of his face.

“Oh, you know. That’s a really long story.” Kyle laughed and it sounded borderline hysterical. “Is that take-out?”

Hal nodded slowly, Kyle’s eyes shining unearthly green and trained like a hawk on the takeaway bag as it was carefully placed on the counter.

“Mind if I - ?“

“Please.”

Hal watched in horrified fascination as Kyle descended upon his poor phad thai.

Technically Lanterns didn’t _need_ certain life necessities like food, drink, sleep or air so long as they had sufficient charge. However the impulses to partake remained and it was encouraged to keep up usual schedules, especially when engaging in rigorous physical activity or use of the ring. From Kyle’s jittery movements, wide eyes and the way his fingers failed him has he tried to pry open a jar of peanut butter (it soon clattered to the floor, explaining the mess), it was blatantly clear that he hadn’t been respecting that recommendation.

Except he’d seen Kyle a mere _week_ ago. With minimal activity, which is what should have applied given that he had yet to relocate to Oa, Lanterns could go without sustenance for at least three.

“Kyle,” Hal said cautiously. “I need you to tell me what’s wrong.”

“Wrong?” Kyle blinked owlishly from over his food. “Nothing’s wrong! Everything’s great! I’m great!”

“You want to try that again?”

“Hn. Sorry. I guess it’s all catching up to me.” Kyle shook his head as if to clear it. “I thought I was holding up really well too.”

“Holding up well from _what_?”

As Kyle continued to inhale the rest of Hal’s dinner, along with a carton of milk, it was a struggle to string his ramblings together into something coherent. Eventually a clumsy picture began to form.

“So you’re telling me that since I saw you last Thursday, you’ve been gone for what felt to you like weeks, shuffling between alternate universe versions of Earth with your Amazonian ex-girlfriend and Batman’s undead son.”

Kyle nodded around the mouthful of bread loaf he was chewing through. “’s about right, yeah.”

Hal took a moment to absorb this. “Okay. I’m going to go across the street and get you more food. In the meantime, why don’t you use the shower. I’ll find some clothes for you to crash in.”

“What?“ Kyle shot upright. “I just came by to use your battery. The portal spat us out in LA and all my stuff is in storage in New York, so.”

“Kyle you’re a mess. Even if my battery wasn’t in my locker at the air base, you need real sleep and more food.” Hal pointedly strode towards the door. “Go. I’ll take the couch, alright?”

“But -“

“Shower. _Now_.”

Ten minutes later and Hal was at a nearby corner store, staring at the produce section. His first impulse had been to get to a pizza place, but that wasn’t exactly a healthy option. After so long Kyle needed something with nutritional value, right? He had been running on fumes and raw willpower for _weeks_ and Hal hadn’t even known.

He stared hopelessly at the small display of fruits and vegetables. He’d always maintained the Air Force’s health requirements without issue, but in all honesty genetics were at least partially to thank. As a perpetual bachelor who’d been on the outs with his mother since enlisting at eighteen, Hal had never felt compelled to refine any domestic skills.

He’d already sent a few disapproving messages to Guy, mainly in the vein of how watching Kyle’s back extended to keeping him from falling through inter dimensional rifts in space-time. Guy’s responses were as expected, the man refusing to take responsibility for anything that happened before resuming active duty as he wasn’t “the idiot trying to coddle a living magnet for cosmic bunkum” and if Hal wanted a babysitter he should hire one.

Charming.

Hal eventually left the store with sandwich materials because when all else failed he stuck to what he knew.

* * *

Kyle was passed out in the bed by the time Hal got back. The food was set aside for the morning, which turned into afternoon when Kyle slept nearly half the day away.

Hal had returned from the base, battery concealed in a canvas shopping bag, to find Kyle in the living room looking dazed and confused.

“Hal! Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Did I trash your place? It’s blurry but I’m sure I remember breaking the screen on your window.“ Kyle looked from Hal to the ransacked kitchen. “I’ll pay you back, promise.”

“It’s fine Kyle. I’m just glad you didn’t try flying to New York in the condition you were in,” Hal said, placing the battery down on the counter and opening the fridge. “Alternate earths, huh? Do I want to know how that happened?”

“I honestly don’t understand most of it myself,” Kyle said, rubbing the bruise on his jaw.

“I hope Batman’s kid didn’t give you that. You know Lanterns, Bats and punching never ends well.”

“Ha! No, this wasn’t Jason. Although I wouldn’t put it past him. Dude’s a real piece of work.” Kyle’s words were clipped, but his expression was almost fond.

“And back from the dead huh? I can’t say I remember much about the second Robin; if Batman ever let him leave Gotham I didn’t hear about it,” Hal said as he began to assemble lunch. “But we all sure as hell remember the fallout when the kid died. Does his dad know he’s still kicking?”

“I think so. Jason didn’t really talk about it.” Kyle shrugged soberly. “And I thought my family was complicated.”

“Yeah? You don’t talk about them much either.”

“Not much to talk about. My dad’s alive, former CIA agent. Left us when I was a baby ‘for our own good’, which I can understand. The thing I _don’t_ get is how he knew I was Green Lantern and still didn’t get in touch. I had to have Ion track him down. Even when mom died, he didn’t…” Kyle shook his head. “Whatever. I’m over it.”

“You sound over it.”

Kyle elbowed him. “Seriously. It fueled a lot of my teen angst, I’m not gonna lie but. Looking back, I feel actually mad at myself for caring so much? I was honestly throwing tantrums and resenting my mom because of this guy who, let’s be real, doesn’t want me. My mom deserved better. From him and from me.”

“You can’t beat yourself up. You were a kid and your mom knew you loved her.”

“I know. Just wish I’d made it easier for her.”

“Yeah, well. You’re not alone there.” Hal sighed. “Broke my mom’s heart when I enlisted in the air force. Even on her deathbed she didn’t want to see me. I chose being a pilot over her, and a big part of that was because I wanted to be like my dad.”

“And the other part?”

Hal smiled. “Born to fly. Always knew it. Even if she had forgiven me, I would’ve hurt her all over again sooner or later. By becoming a Lantern or going back on my promise in some other way.”

Kyle huffed dejectedly. “That sucks. I complained all the time about my mom smothering me, but when it came to me being a Lantern she was so proud.”

There was a pause as Kyle ate, clearly deep in his own thoughts.

“I miss her all the time,” he said finally. “But you know, I really think this move to Oa is a good idea. My mom supported me in my art, in being a Lantern - neither of which are any single parent’s first pick for their kid’s career - because she believed in me finding my place in the world. The Corps is my place, and now I’m going to put everything I have to give into it.”

Kyle’s eyes were brown again, but if anything only brighter than before. Clearer. Watching him, Hal couldn’t help but admire the kid. He was downright wholesome in ways that Hal could never even pretend to be.

The positive reviews from Kyle’s tenure as the only Green Lantern had all been more or less the same: a dreamer, an artist, a sentimentalist. A complete opposite of Hal himself, which had frankly been sorely needed at the time.

“You’re gonna go places Kyle.” Maybe he had been worrying too much. Kyle was more than capable of managing himself with the Corps. “I know you’ll do great out there.”

“Thanks. I’m sure as hell going to do my best.” There was pause, Kyle glancing at Hal nervously. “Uh, is it-“

“You don’t have to ask,” Hal said, standing up so that Kyle could hug him.

“Yeah, well.” Kyle laughed into Hal’s shoulder. “Some of the guys I’ve worked with would disagree.”

“If you mean Guy, he’s messing with you. I’ve never known someone who combined aggression and affection so seamlessly into all of his interactions.”

“Now I know you’ve never met Jason.”

* * *

 

Re-entering active duty was like tipping a chain of dominos, with the emergence of the other color corps sending ripples across the universe. Whispers about the Blackest Night became deafening despite the Guardian’s best efforts to stay silent. Lies stacked upon lies in progressively disillusioning ways, especially once the truth behind the Vega System came out.

When the news reached him that the Star Sapphires were organizing he couldn’t help but yearn for simpler days. He’d never cared to know about the deeper workings of the universe - and to be honest he still couldn’t totally follow what he gleaned about this upcoming war (because with so many armies cropping up it could only be war). It was troubling for more than just the obvious reasons.

These other lights were raw and harsh against Hal’s senses, so far removed from the refined green light that he was used to. At least “refined” was the term he chose to use - the others liked to call it “watered down”, but if it kept his corps from going insane then that was more than a fair trade.

The Reds, the Indigos, the Sapphires; the poor muppet-looking bastard that was essentially enslaved by the orange light. Self and sanity was one hell of a price to pay.

As things began to escalate Hal didn’t get to oversee Kyle as much as he’d like. More often than not they found themselves flung to opposite ends of the universe, but he did what he could to stay in touch whilst remaining focused. Plus it wasn’t like he wanted to bother Kyle.

Guy though? He was practically obligated to inconvenience Guy.

Calling him was always a frustrating experience, with Hal’s calls usually getting ignored or answered with the most curt and blunt of replies: “he’s fine” or “ask him yourself” or “you’re worse than an old bird with empty nest syndrome”.

This time was different. The call was picked up promptly, and yet for a long moment afterwards there was only silence.

“…Um. Guy? You there?”

Another pause. _“Yeah.”_

Hal glanced at his ring as if it was going to give him an explanation.

“Okay, well. You guys got the memo to head back to Earth right?”

“ _Sure did. We’ve got the rainbow caravan together and we’re making our way to you, Jordan._ ” Guy was uncharacteristically aloof and it was stimulating Hal’s nerves into the beginning stages of anxiety. Something was wrong.

“What happened.”

Guy didn’t even try to lie or cover it up, which was characteristic of him and one of the qualities of his that Hal actually liked.

“ _You’re gonna freak out, because that’s what you do. I know you and you’re just going to assume the worst and have a big bitch fit but I’m telling you_ -“

“Guy…”

“- I am telling you Jordan _that it was not my fault!”_

“What. Happened.” Hal repeated. “Is Kyle okay?”

“ _The kid’s fine. And I know I made fun of you for worrying like a pearl-clutching grandmother but I swear this kid attracts bad news. It’s not natural.”_

Hal’s breathing eased, if only marginally. “If Kyle’s fine then why the hell are you acting so weird?”

“ _He’s fine_ now _. We may have run into some problems when more of those rejects from Night of the Living Dead jumped us. Kyle might’ve had a very slight near death experience.”_

Hal could feel the cortisol levels in his body spike. He clenched his fists, voice dangerously low when he spoke. “ _How_ slight?”

“ _Well if you take out the ‘near’_ -“

“What!?”

“ _But he’s fine now, honest! Despite his best efforts he’s right as rain, call him yourself!_ ” Guy said with an annoyed scoff. _“Hell I’m the one you should be expressing some concern for. I got taken by the red over that kid’s nonsense and had to get a surprise baptism from Mogo to deal with it. I had space leeches crawling all -“_

Hal had barely hung up on Guy before he was putting another call through to Kyle, blood pressure rising with every second that ticked by.

 _“Hal?”_ The wave of relief that hit him at the sound of Kyle’s voice was damn near overpowering. _“Was that you Guy was just talking to? He’s started yelling at nothing and it’s kinda making the others uncomfortable.”_

“Are you okay?” Blurted unceremoniously out of Hal’s mouth. “I heard - what happened!?”

Kyle made an embarrassed noise. “ _I’m the least of our worries. The Black Lanterns got into the catacombs on Oa. It was a mess and everyone’s gonna be reeling from it for a while. Their numbers were obscene so I maybe got it in my head to take out as many as I could with an overcharged battery._ ”

Hal gave that a few seconds to process. “You suicide bombed the Black Lanterns.”

“ _Uh. Well when you put it like that…”_

 _“_ How the hell else am I supposed to put it Kyle!?”

 _“Guy’s already been ripping on me for it the whole trip._ ” Kyle sighed. _“Look I know it was dumb but it bought us time! We were overwhelmed and I just thought, you know, about what_ you _would do.”_

Hal choked on his own breath.

_“The green energy from the battery must’ve stopped my heart. They resuscitated me but I’m not sure I was entirely dead? I mean my ring left me, but apparently when a black one tried to snag me it didn’t take. Like it rejected me or something.”_

Kyle’s voice had taken on a pensive tone and Hal couldn’t help but feel like he was focusing on a far less important aspect of this debacle.

“Kyle I really don’t think-“

“ _We’ve still got a ways to go but we’ll meet on Earth, yeah? Try to hold out until we bring the cavalry._ ”

“You just got resuscitated, are you even clear to -“ It took him a few seconds to realize he’d already been hung up on. “Great.”

Kyle was probably fine, Hal reasoned. The ‘cavalry’ was bound to have picked up some Blue Lanterns, he had to be fine. With the final battle so close they couldn’t afford to have Hal fussing or getting in Kyle’s way.

But when the fight was over… well they all would probably have a lot to think about.

* * *

The airfield was impossibly still at night, the deafening roar and boom of the jet having long since faded to a deep silence.

“That was really something,” Kyle said, still high on adrenaline and wonder. “Completely different from flying with our rings.”

“Being in the stars is a dream but feeling the turbulence, the engine, flying without a safety net - I’ve got a soft spot for it.”

“Yeah. I get it now.” Kyle slipped his ring back on. It glimmered a white too perfect and pristine to be found in nature.

He still couldn’t quite control the light, and in the dark expanse of the airfield an aura shimmered faintly through his skin. For hours after being bestowed with the White Lantern ring his eyes had gleamed as if backlit by stars, causing him to complain about not being able to pass as civilian despite having surrendered his life on Earth months ago.

It was the same white light that had nearly blinded them all when the Entity had emerged from its rift. The Trespasser, the Big Bang incarnate, the snap of God’s fingers and “let there be light” - asleep within an interdimensional pocket deep within the Earth all this time.

And the first thing it did upon waking up was make a beeline straight for Kyle. Sinestro had been livid and Nekron had gone nearly rabid over it.

“You doing alright there? I know you said you were, but… that thing sure took you by surprise.” Hal didn’t care if it was light and life incarnate, he was never going to be okay with entities joyriding people’s bodies without so much as a greeting first.

“It took us all by surprise. I think even _he_ was surprised,” Kyle said.

“According to the Indigos it’s been there ever since the spectrum was created, sleeping off that last bout with the darkness. Having it wake up was some timing.”

“I think Nekron’s presence was what did it. The darkness he was using to power the Black Lantern Corps, all converged at one point on Earth…” Kyle sighed like he always did when concepts in that artist’s brain of his wouldn’t translate to words. “I think the Life Entity thought it was something else.”

“Something other than a zombie apocalypse headed by Skeletor’s edgy cousin?”

“Yeah. He felt disappointed.” Kyle shuddered. “And then wow, he was _angry_.”

Hal could remember that part clearly: the searing white light as it enveloped Kyle and flared outwards, incinerating what remained of the Black Lantern Corps without so much as a dust mote left behind. Shortly after Nekron had either been banished or fled their realm with what little strength he had, the Life Entity vacated Kyle with the shiny white ring left behind as a parting gift.

“According to the magic team there are more underworld realms than you can shake a stick at, and even if we could find him, apparently fighting a dimension lord on his own turf is a category five mistake. So there’s really no way to follow up on the damage you dealt him. Or to predict if and when he’ll be back.”

“Mm.” Kyle’s eyes were distant as they stared into the stars. “I think we hurt him pretty bad. Plus the entity seemed to scare him a lot.”

“Yeah. I noticed.” Hal watched a cluster of moths circle the lamp above them. “Even devils feel fear. Fancy that.”

“That makes everyone but you, I guess.” Kyle elbowed Hal amiably in the side.

“Don’t be so sure. Lately I’ve come to intimately appreciate all the hell I put my parents through.”

“What do you mean?”

 _I just thought about what you would do._  It was poetic irony at its finest.

Hal could still see his mother’s disappointment and fear, the pain clear as day every time she looked at him. It had turned into a nearly hysterical desperation after his father died. He could also recall with perfect clarity his father’s expression as lifted Hal into a jet for the first time. Somber, resigned pride. Like the call of the sky was curse they shared.

“You’re meant for great things Kyle,” Hal said finally. “More so than the rest of us.”

Kyle had torn his gaze from the sky, brow pinched in confusion. He had to have known that much; being chosen by the Life Entity was huge, cosmic, fabric-of-reality-type stuff.  

“I really mean it. That ring on your finger is just the latest in a long line of indicators. And I couldn’t be more proud or more confident in you, but god damn you’re making me go gray even quicker than necessary.”

Kyle laughed more out of disbelief than humor. “What does this have to do with… I don’t get what you’re saying?”

Hal thought over his next words carefully.

“No one is without fear, Kyle. I’ve been afraid of plenty - commitment, failure, loss. Mainly in that order, with one leading to the other. I came to an understanding with myself a long time ago that I wasn’t going to settle down, that I’m not equipped to have a family. I’m still not sure if that’s changed, but it doesn’t matter anymore.” Hal put a hand on Kyle’s shoulder. It felt like every muscle in the kid’s body had gone taut. “I’m not implying you aren’t capable, and I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable-“

“I’m not uncomfortable,” Kyle said quickly. A mixture of tension, bewilderment and hope emanated from him.

“Okay. Well what I’m trying to say is… you’re young. I worry about you. All those reasons I swore to never become a father over are still bouncing around my head,” Hal said. “And I don’t want to let you down or see you get hurt.”

Kyle hadn’t blinked in the past minute. He may have also stopped breathing.

“Um- I’m sorry, I just-“ He didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands, fingers drumming on his knees. “I just really need you to totally spell this out for me because I -“

“I consider you a son to me, Kyle.”

There were several long seconds, during which Kyle seemed on the brink of some kind of mental implosion. The silence was deafening, with even the moths and cicadas having gone quiet.

“Oh.” Kyle’s voice was tight. “ _Oh_. That, that’s- wow. Okay. I-”

The hug hit him with almost enough force to bruise. Kyle continued to babble the beginnings of various half-formed sentences before finally losing steam.

“The White Lantern doesn’t have to answer to anyone, not to the Guardians and not to me,” Hal said and he was pretty sure that Kyle was crying. “It’s unprecedented. What you do with this power is your choice and you’re the only one fit for it, but I need you to be careful out there. I know you’re not obligated, but if you could keep us old men in the loop we’d appreciate it.”

Kyle swallowed thickly. “Of course I will. I don’t know what’s next but. Yeah.”

“It’ll mean a lot,” Hal said. “And by that I mean it’ll save the trouble of tracking you.”

Kyle made a choked sound.

“I’m serious. I’ll call the guys and we’ll take turns-”

“Oh my god, shut up.”

Hal rarely felt content on the ground, but he felt a deep sense of peace on that airfield. There was more to come, damage to be rectified and business still unfinished; yet even with sunrise far off and the universe still dealing with the aftermath of Blackest Night, darkness had never felt further away.

**Author's Note:**

> I know it diverted from canon a bit right at the end there, but if you're confused it may make more sense with subsequent fics that are in the works.  
> I also feel compelled to say for those who may not read a lot of GL comics that very little here was fudged in the name of fluff. Hal Jordan is truly the team dad we all deserve and Bruce Wayne should take notes.


End file.
